Raizen
Raizen (雷禅, Raizen; Literally "Lightning Zen") is a highly skilled shinobi from Kirigakure and a member of the current generation of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Like all the members of the Seven Swordsmen, he considered to be one of the strongest Jōnins in the village. Having trained as a samurai in the Land of Iron, he is a master swordsman and his skills with the blade are almost unmatched. Even though all the seven swordsmen in the group are exceptionally skilled and have monstrous abilities, Raizen has on more then one occasion been called a monster amongst monsters due to his great blood lust when he looses control. Due to his flaming red hair he has earned the moniker of the Crimson Samurai (真紅の侍, Shinku no Samurai). Due to his red hair and his expertise in fire and lightning based attacks, he has earned two monikers, the Red Blaze of Kirigakure (霧隠れの赤い炎, Kirigakure no Akaihono) and the Lightning of the Hidden Mist (霧隠れの稲妻, Kirigakure no Inazuma). Appearance Raizen is a tall and lean young man with long flaming red hair and a prominent "X" shaped scar on his left cheek. He is fair skinned and quite well muscled despite his lean appearance. He normally dresses in traditional samurai attire in shades of red and gray. The most standout part of his clothing is the kimono, consisting of an outer and inner layer. The outer layer is normally red in color though he is known to wear blue ones on occasion as well. The outer layer is made of silk and is light and fine textured. In winter he replaces the silk outer layer for one made out of heavier material such as wool. The inner layer is pure white and is much more durable and comfortable than the outer layer. Below the kimono he wears a hakama: wide, flowing trousers in shades of white. The trousers are loose fitting so that Raizen can execute acrobatic stunts with ease. They are also made of durable materials so as to keep up with a lot of wear and tear. He wears a white cloth belt, a obi, around his waist tied up front. The obi is worn over his kimino and he normally keeps his sword thrust through it on the left side. If and when he carries to swords, the main sword is slung by cords from the obi while the short sword (Wakizashi) was worn through the Obi. For footwear he wears sandals, cloth shoes or boots depending on the situation. Sometimes he also wears black bandages tied around his hands to improve his grip. Though this is his most common attire, he sometimes puts on traditional ninja clothing as befitting a Jōnin of Iwagakure. Personality Raizen is a calm, collected and thoughtful person who rarely looses his temper and is almost always smiling. He has a kind heart and is known to known to put his all into any enterprise that he starts. He is also slightly lazy and is slow to get interested in any activity. But when aroused he will put his entire heart and soul into the task at hand until he is convinced that he has done everything within his limits to accomplish the task. Though he is kind, he is blunt while speaking to people and will often speak out out other people's weaknesses and delusions irrespective of how much that might disturb or hurt them. He believes that by doing so he is giving them the opportunity to improve themselves and is showing greater kindness to them than by lying to them. He believes that by letting them live a lie you can only grant them temporary happiness and as soon as the bubbles of their delusions break their happiness will be gone. On the other hand telling them the truth will cause them some grief now but will grant them greater happiness and satisfaction in the long run. At the same time it will also make them stronger. Raizen is a great follower of justice and honor. He is of the belief that if a person throws away their honor then he or she is living but a half and empty life. Its his belief that a person's honor will always allow them to live with their heads held high and this will provide them with a strength to overcome any kind of hardship that life throws their way. He also believes that one kind act must be repaid by another. Thus he believes that a person must always fulfill their debts to another no matter how that debt was earned in the first place. Thus even if an enemy lets you live for another day, whether this be out of kindness, pity or simply orders, one should show that enemy a similar kindness when given the chance. It's his staunch belief that a person should treat others in the same way he expects to be treated by them. Because of this he always tries to be helpful to the people around him and provide any aid that he can. Even if the person may never repay his kindness or might not even be aware of his aid, he will always try to help them. This is due to his belief that ever kind act ever will some day come back to them. History Raizen was born in Kirigakure to a poor couple who passed away a few months after his birth. He was then raised in an orphanage and when he was 6 ears old, admitted into the Ninja Academy after he showed potential in ninjutsu. He passed from the academy the next year as the top ranked rookie. He was put into a genins and allotted to a Kirigakure Jonin. The next year he was promoted to chunin after participating in the Chunin exam. At this time he was amongst he few Kiri shinobi who were selected to accompany an ambassador to the Land of Iron. They stayed there for a few months and in that time Raizen trained with the Samurai and showed great potential as a swordsman and upon returning to Kiri continued to train in swordsmanship. He was apprenticed under an old sworsman who started to teach him what it meant to be a true swordsman and how a sword is to be used as a means to protect lives. The first things he learned from his master were his way of being a shinobi and a swordsman, being kind, brave, benevolent, respectful, loyal and above all else honorable. Raizen learned fast and soon developed a strong relationship with his master and formed an almost father-son like bond with him. Battle of the Bloody Mist Around 10 years before the current series of events Kirigakure was attacked by Otogakure. Initially Raizen did not take any part in the fight as his master felt that he was still not ready. But then one night while en route to his master’s hut, he saw his master fighting many foes. By the time he was able to reach him his master was fatally wounded and the Otogakure shinobi had escaped. Raizen then learned that his master had seen the Otogakure ninjas attack some innocent villagers and rushed in to help them. With his dying words he told Raizen that every life was important and that he should not be picky about who he protected. Saying this he gave Raizen his sword and died in his arms. His master’s death made him realise just how much he owed to the old man and how he never thanked him. Seeing the villagers who his master had protected weep for him made him realise that he owed a lot not just to the old man but to the village as well. It was his home and he would protect it at any cost. He finally understood his master’s way of the ninja and decided to live by that same code from that point on. He swore to protect every life he could and decided to join the battle. He fought many foes and was soon approached by three other young and talented shinobi swordsmen to join them and fight the Otogakure. He agreed to join them and fight with them. Soon their numbers increased to seven. Defending the village against the enemies these seven young shinobi along with the assistance from other loyal Kirigakure ninja were able to defeat Otogakure and push them back. Though they were the victor of the battle but it was at a high price, as the village suffered much damage and a lot of people were injured or killed during the battle. Seven Swordsmen of the Mist Reiko Himegami, one of the six who fought with him, asked them to form a team to protect the village from such threats in the future. Raizen agreed as did all the others. They went to the Mizukage and presented their case. The Mizukage and Water Daimyo agreed so the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist were reformed; under the ideals that together all seven of them would fight for peace and justice of not only Kirigakure but also for the Land of Water. Synopsis Abilities Raizen is a highly well respected shinobi from Kirigakure and is recognized as one of the foremost kenjutsu specialists in Kiri, due to his mastery of numerous sword techniques, a feat that earns either delight or dread from enemy ninja who face him in combat. His skill and cunning are great enough to enable him to hold his own against almost any opponent. Ninjutsu Raizen is relatively well-versed in a variety of ninjutsu types, having numerous defensive and offensive abilities in his arsenal. He tends to master a jutsu and then work on it to improve or expand its limits so that it it becomes much more potent then it previously was. He is also very good at improvisation and often comes up with unorthodox but highly effective ways to use jutsus. He is very good at analyzing his opponents and comes up with a counter strategy to fight in the most efficient manner. Raizen is very intuitive in his ninjutsu usage and will use a technique, even if it is not the logical choice, if he feels that it can get the job done. He often combines his ninjutsu with his kenjutsu to create an highly potent form of combat that few can counter. However, he was not a very skilled genjutsu user. Kenjutsu Raizen is a master swordsman, being able to use one or two swords in varying attack styles, going from melee-type all the way to artillery. He is in possession of the legendary samurai blade Kyō (凶; Literally "Plague") which is one of the most destructively powerful blades in the world. Its fame is not due to any special ability that it has, but rather due to its immense durability and unnatural sharpness. It was made from a special alloy that was found in a meteor that fell in Raizen's village a long time ago. As such it is extremely hard and almost impossible to break. It is very durable and can endure even the strongest of attacks, making it quite effective in blocking and deflecting incoming attacks; it can even withstand getting crushed by force. He is graceful enough with the blade to knock projectiles and change their course with little effort and at great speed. Although Raizen is most comfortable with one sword, his skills with two swords are very good, being able to hold off Kori Shishido, the jinchūriki of the Five-Tailed Dolphin Horse and a very skilled swordsman himself, with apparent ease. Some of his sword techniques use air itself to hurt the enemy. He is graceful enough with the blade to knock projectiles and change their course with little effort and at great speed. He can attack enemies with powerful slashes made of a huge streams of chakra mixed with compressed air like they were giant projectiles. Such attacks are based on his mastery of battōjutsu, the art where drawing of the blade is the same motion used for the attack. When used in tandem with his shukuchi, his draw speed is so great that he can defeat most adversaries in a single draw of his sword. The combined momentum of his high speed movements along with the slipstreaming effect of his drawing blade are so great that most opponents can get knocked out in one strike. Raizen also uses the sheath of his sword to attack his opponents or to block attacks. Shukuchi Raizen has mastered a rather unique ability of his own called the Shukuchi (Literally "Reduced Earth") which allows him to execute a form of short and long-range teleportation. By focusing his chakra on his feet and firing up his neurons by releasing bursts of electric charge into them, he is able to move so fast that he can temporarily bend the space-time continuum and travel from one point to another almost instantaneously. Unlike normal Jikūkan Ninjutsu like Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God Technique or standard summoning techniques which warp the targets through a dimensional void to the summoner's location, Raizen's shukuchi actually bends the space time continuum to slow time around him. Thus he speeds up his movements to such a degree that he can achieve speeds which enter relativistic domains and as a result of time dilation that ensues he can seemingly achieve near instant transportation. As a result of his training to use and master the shukuchi, his normal speed has also increased to a great degree and granted him seemingly instantaneous reflexes. Physical Prowess and Taijutsu Having trained for years to become a master swordsman, Raizen is in peak physical condition. He is very strong and has the raw physical power to hold out against opponents much larger and much more buffed up than him. Though he is not a taijutsu master like Sōsuke Yūhi he is not without skill in this field. His training to master the Shukuchi required him to greatly strengthen his leg muscles so that they could withstand the tremendous strain they would need to be put under to use the technique. As a result of this he was able to create a form of taijutsu that focuses on fending off enemy attacks with the arms and using the legs to counterattack with powerful kicks. This fighting style takes advantage of his exceptional footwork to execute quick, powerful attacks. When used in tandem with his shukuchi, it can create an exceedingly potent form of combat. This form can also be used in collaboration with kenjutsu to create an acrobatic form of combat where he jumps around the opponent to attack him with slashes from his sword and execute kicks while in the air. Stats Relationships Kori Shishido Jubei Shishido Behind the Scenes *This character was inspired by characters from the various manga that I read. *Raizen's appearance is based on Kurama from Yu Yu Hakusho and Kenshin Himura from Rurouni Kenshin. *The quote is by Luke Skywalker from Betrayal. Category:Male Category:Missing-nin Category:Jonin Category:Mist Ninja Category:Seven Swordsmen of the Mist